March 2022

Hey everyone! Hope you had a fulfilling month. Here are some ideas for wellness practice. 

Digital minimalism

• Read this one by Cal Newport, whose books are exactly as long as they need to be. He was very early to the idea of not letting social media take over our lives. 
• In this book he talks about the diminishing returns of technology, costliness of clutter, deep living, a 30 day detox, reclaiming conversation, and our solitude deprivation. 
• He also gives tips like: keep apps on your laptop instead of phone, use Focus or Do Not Disturb mode, have conversation/Social Media “office hours” (no use outside of those hours), going on an information diet, scheduling low stimulation leisure time, and many more.
• He covers the basic idea that “If the software is free, then you are the product” (I hear this from Dan O’brien all the time). 

Medical Education

• I try to keep medicine out of the newsletter to give the medical people a break, but everyone should watch a few of these videos by Dr. Mike. Examples include this one on metabolism and this one on muscle growth. 

Best Chapstick

• According to science, this is the best chapstick on the market. On sale for $2 right now at Whole Foods. Good ingredients, no weird taste, my kids like it, amazing stuff. 

Best Water

• While you’re at Whole Foods getting the chapstick, buy a case of these Italian Spring water bottles. Glass bottles, large, real spring water with minerals, and only $1.69. Warning, people at work will be suspicious that you are drinking something other than water. 

Exercise Snack

• Ok this one is TOUGH. You put on the song Flower by Moby (“Bring Sally up, bring Sally down, …”). When it says “up” you push-up, when it says “down” you go down. You remain in the stated position until the next word comes. It can be done with push-ups, squats, planks, ring rows; an insane friend of mine claims to have tried it with pull-ups. The song isn’t even 4 minutes long, easy right? Try it. 

What is the Goal?

• I have seen a few variations of this one page story, so much wisdom here. Something we should read daily to figure out what the heck to spend our energy on. Posted in this tweet.

Quotes

Chekhov once said that a writer’s business was not to provide solutions, only to describe a situation so truthfully, do such justice to all sides of the question, that the reader could no longer evade it.
Isaiah Berlin

Adjustment to a sick and insane environment is of itself not ‘health’ but sickness and insanity.
James Agee

Martin Huecker, MD, is co-editor in chief of the free, open access Journal of Wellness. He is an Associate Professor and Research Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine (EM) at the University of Louisville. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Dr. Huecker graduated from UofL’s EM Residency Program and (Chief Resident in 2011). He works full time seeing patients and teaching residents in the UofL Emergency Department. His diverse research interests include substance use, accidental hypothermia, and healthcare professional wellness. Dr. Huecker is also a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician (DipABLM). He loves books, (cold) trail runs, dogs, and coffee. His wife is an OB/GYN and they have 4 children with cool names.